Tarnac
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Tarnac | |
|---|---|
 The church of Saint-Georges, in Tarnac | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Tarnac | |
  Tarnac Location within France  Tarnac Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Coordinates: 45°40′52″N 1°56′52″E / 45.6811°N 1.9478°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Corrèze |
| Arrondissement | Tulle |
| Canton | Plateau de Millevaches |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2026–2032) | Christophe Bayle[1] |
Area 1 | 67.46 km2 (26.05 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 878 m (2,881 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 533 m (1,749 ft) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 333 |
| • Density | 4.94/km2 (12.8/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 19265 /19170 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Tarnac (French pronunciation: [taʁnak]) is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.
Toponymy
[edit]The toponym is of Gallo-Roman origin, or even Celtic. Marcel Villoutreix[3] wrote that, Tarnac comes from a Gallic or Latin man's name, Tarinus; Jean-Paul Savignac[4] said it was based on the theonym Taranus, better known in the form of Taranis, the Gallic god of thunder. But a third author, Xavier Delamarre,[5] connects both Tarinus and Taranus to a root taro meaning "who crosses". It is true that near Tarnac, the Vienne river valley is very steep and gives the impression of crossing the mountain.
Geography
[edit]Location and access
[edit]A commune in the Massif Central, Tarnac is located in the Corrèze department with the village at 700m.[6] It borders the departments of Creuse and Haute-Vienne.
It is located on the Plateau de Millevaches, 11 km north of Bugeat and 30 km northwest of Meymac and 42 km from the sub-prefecture of Ussel.
Population
[edit]| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 546 | — |
| 1975 | 506 | −1.08% |
| 1982 | 472 | −0.99% |
| 1990 | 403 | −1.96% |
| 1999 | 356 | −1.37% |
| 2007 | 327 | −1.06% |
| 2012 | 315 | −0.74% |
| 2017 | 339 | +1.48% |
| 2023 | 333 | −0.30% |
| Source: INSEE[7] | ||
Places and monuments
[edit]Several buildings are listed as historical monuments:
- l'église Saint-Georges - a romanesque style church built in the 12th and 13th-centuries, listed in 1919.[8] It was restored in 1960.[6] The aspe has canted corners, the chancel ispolygon-shaped with flat buttresses, while the nave is in the romanesque style.[6] The altarpiece dates from the 17th-century and the is a polychrome wood statue featuring Saint George.[6] The portal is a gothic from 14th-century with archivolts and two sculpted medallions of Saint George and Saint Giles.[6]
- a 17th-century castle owned by Yves de Kerdrel, the façade and roof have been listed since 1989,[9]
- Village of Puy-Murat - remains of a medieval complex listed in 1993,
- la Fontaine Saint-George - fountain feeds an 18th-century washhouse.[10]
- Two monumental oak trees - planted on the Place de l'Eglise. The younger tree was planted in 1848, commemorating the creation of the French Second Republic and is therefore known as the "liberty tree".[6]
Personalities linked to the commune
[edit]- Yves de Kerdrel, journalist, director of Valeurs Actuelles and owner of the village castle,
- Julien Coupat, implicated and then acquitted in the case of sabotage of the TGV lines in 2008,
- Armand Gatti, poet, playwright, director and filmmaker, joined the maquis and was arrested in 1943 in Tarnac,
- Jean-Marie Gleize, writer, 1946-2026.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ↑ "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
- ↑ Villoutreix, Marcel (2002). Les Noms de lieux du Limousin, témoins de l'Histoire d'une région, (in French). Limoges: Association des Antiquités historiques du Limousin.
- ↑ Savignac, Jean-Paul (2000). Merde à César (in French). Paris: La Différence. p. 57.
- ↑ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (in French). Paris: éditions Errance.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Latta, Claude (1996). Le guide de la Corrèze (in French). Internet Archive. Lyon: La Manufacture. p. 156. ISBN 978-2-7377-0403-1.
- ↑ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
- ↑ "Église Saint-Georges". pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
- ↑ "Château". pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
- ↑ "Fontaine Saint-Georges". pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
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